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Gearing Up to Mardi Gras


Mardi Gras Beads, originally uploaded by jciv.

I'm planning my Mardi Gras party for Tuesday, March 8th.
This is when I will be launching my New Orleans perfume. Those of you who've been following its development on the blog here might remember - the process started in 2007 and it took a while to brew in my head, my lab, and with the assistance of my perfume friends in New Orleans - Paula and Michelle - I'm able to bring it to you this Mardi Gras, even though I'm yet to visit New Orleans in person. I'm planning to go there for Jazz Festival this year though!

The menu for what I hope will be a happily laid back cocktail party is mostly derived from the perfume itself. I'll be serving aromatic nibbles and desserts that are inspired by New Orleans botanicals such as sweet olive (aka tea olive) - in the form of osmanthus shortbread.
Herbaceous rosemary will add a twist to a Southern cornbread recipe, and of course the menu will not be complete without some seafood and cajun appies.

As far as drinks go - there will be also a Meyer lemon hard lemonade, Southern Comfort cocktails, and for the tea lovers among us (me included) - fragrant Magnolia oolong tea.

The Mardi Gras Party is on Tuesday, March 8th from 7-11pm.
We will be serving some Southern finger food, as well as desserts and pastries inspired by the Cajun cuisine and the botanicals used in New Orleans perfume.

9:00pm - the Grand reveal of New Orleans perfume, as well as breakdown of the unusual notes that make it such a unique fragrance.

Tickets are by donation - you can order them online for our suggested donation of $12 at the door. 100% of ticket sales will be sent to charity in New Orleans, and additional donations are encouraged!
In addition, 10% of all sales that night will benefit these two important organizations:
1) America's Wetland non-profit organization that works towards saving coastal Louisiana, who is losing land at a rate of 25 square miles per year (!).

2) The Tipitina's Foundation which is dedicated to helping artists recover from Hurricane Katrina and preserving the cultural traditions of New Orleans. Can you imagine a Mardi Gras parade without a marching band?!

You can support New Orleans' unique culture by attending the event, buying New Orleans perfume online and off-line, and

Tickets can be purchased in advance online at ayalamoriel.com.

To RSVP or for more information about the Mardi Gras Party, please contact: ayala (at) ayalamoriel.com or call (778) 863-0806. Or via Facebook.

Osmanthe-Saffran Truffles

Here is a snapshot of my Osmanthe-Saffran truffles in the making. I make them square or diamond shape rather than round, because I like to sprinkle the saffron on top for the visual effect. Having it inside the truffles will give the same flavour, but not the crunchiness of biting into the roasted crocus stamens; and you won't be able to see the saffron threads until biting into the truffles.
The diamond shape is also an homage to the exotic Middle Eastern desserts that are often made in large trays and cut into diamonds (harrissa, baclava and sesame or nut barks are cut that way).
This is my 2nd time making thes luxurious truffles. And the first times, I'm always experimenting with flavours and spices. In the 1st time creating these, I infused the cream with osmanthus flowers, and added saffron salt and saffron gin.
The 2nd time around, I infuesed the cream with my favourite milky oolong tea (which is also the flavour of the dark chocolate truffles that share the tray in the photograph below). I forgot about the gin, unfortunately. For the osmanthus flavour, I used osmanthus absolute. I think if it weren't for the missing gin, this would have been the winning recipe.

I still have both of these truffle flavours for sale. They make a perfect gift (boxed in our reusable tins and tied with a bow - 12 truffles for $15); and they are an elegant, stress-free dessert for any festive meal or afternoon tea with special guests.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

New Orleans Perfume


Oak Alley, originally uploaded by Lake Fred.

A little distraction from the Autumn Aromas theme that's been running here in the past few days... But still connected since this is about a perfume that combines both Meyer lemons and moss!

Based on Paula Stratton's description of the aromas New Orleans I have created yesterday the 4th and what may be the final version of what I call for now "New Orleans". After 2 first gloomy mods, I've created a 3rd one that was more of a cheerful twist on the same olfactory themes - magnolia, cypress, moss, vetiver, tea olive, citrus and a dash of herbs. Paula has told me in that "each of the 3 has successfully captured the magic, the mystery of New orleans before Katrina. Each is gorgeous".

But I felt that the last mod was the most hopeful and refined... I also thought that Meyer lemon element was important, even if subtle, in order to bring this perfume into completion. And I had to make Meyer lemon tincture, which I finally did and filtered.

This perfume is bright, mossy, delightful. It has the dryness of woods from the cedarmoss and vetiver and amyris and salty notes of seaweed and ambergris as a balancing backdrop for the floral notes are classically the Southern Belle's favourites (magnolia and tea olive - aka osmanthus). However, Paula's husband liked it a lot and even thought it to be the most masculine of the bunch... I think that if you love New Orleans, even if you haven't been there, you would appreciate this perfume. And gender has very little to do with it.

Top notes: Meyer Lemon, Rosemary, Grapefruit, Tangerine Murcott

Heart notes: Tea Olive, Tea Rose, Magnolia, Neroli, Orange Blossom

Base notes: Haitian & Sri Lankan Vetiver, Cypress, Seaweed, Amyris, Cedarmoss, Ambergris

I was toying with different names, and decided finally to keep it very simple - not NOLA, but New Orleans. After all, this is what it's all about... I would love to hear any of your thoughts though - especially among my readers from New Orleans.

Kinmokusei Mentioned in Pivoines et Macarons

For the French speaking among you - here's a link to florist and garden designer Olga Campagnoli's article about osmanthus in her Pivoines et Macarons blog, which mentions Kinmokusei perfume right after Jean-Claude Elena's Osmanthe Yunnan!

Osmanthus is very much a fall flower: the fragrant osmanthus used in perfumery blooms just around this time of the year in Japan and China. And it has beautiful, golden-orange flowers too!

Now I'm off to burn some osmanthus incense my friend Noriko brought me from Japan...

Rose with Jade Stem

Getting back from shipping packages at the post office today, I was back at the lobby checking my own mail, which had a package, a few bills, and as usual - a delivery attempt notice from UPS, which could only mean one thing: I missed the courier guy by just a few minutes, as usual... And than the unheard of happened: I found the package waiting for me patiently right at my doorstep!

This is unprecedented. It never, ever, EVER happens. But that was not where the good surprises ended today. This was a flacon of Patou's 1000 in parfum concentration I ordered off eBay last week. As it turns out, even though it was wrapped with cellophane and the bottle completely sealed, it was a vintage. In any case, it is at least old enough to exist before the IFRA regulations kicked in, with the requirement for a long list of allergens, and most importantly the oakmoss, which is now gradually being eliminated altogether from such Chyprish beauties!

1000 was better than I even remembered it. Releasing the stopper from the sealing film, I noticed it was covered but what looked like crystals (from the film perhaps?). Dipping the jade applicator in the precious jus (some of which evaporated) and applying it onto my skin was a magical moment. Off the jade glass rod, a rose emerged, with thorns and crushed leaves. Moss, amber, spice and a hint of tea-like osmanthus swirling around it like little green fairies.

1000 has the rich vintage air to it of a full-bodied, grown up perfume. It's not as dry and medicinal as I remember it. It certainly has the "old fashioned Chypre" feel to it with a tad of a soapiness (that seems to be the trademark of the 70's - 1000 was released in 1972 and was created by Msr. Jean Kerléo, who now runs the Osmotheque). And the rose really blooms and grows on the skin, a dark rose with its roots deep in patchouli, oakmoss, musk and a hint of ambery labdanum, and an even tinier hint of immortelle absolute. I'm in heaven.

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